Upton Sinclair’s Home Can’t Be Razed, State Says

The state Office of Historic Preservation has determined that the former home of author Upton Sinclair, which was damaged last year in the Sierra Madre earthquake, cannot be demolished by its owner.

Steve Hastings had sought a demolition permit after the muckraking novelist’s former house was damaged by the 5.8-magnitude earthquake that shook the San Gabriel Valley on June 28. He maintained that engineers from his insurance company said the structure was unsafe because it had moved significantly from its foundation and the damage could not be repaired.

Monrovia officials, however, denied the permit after the city’s building inspectors found only small interior cracks and a slight shift from the foundation on one side of the structure.

The city wants to preserve the Spanish Colonial Revival-style home on Myrtle Avenue because Sinclair lived there from 1941 to 1962. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

State law prohibits demolition of a historic structure unless it is an imminent threat to the public safety or the state gives the owner permission to do so, according to Steade R. Craigo, acting state historic preservation officer.

The city and Allstate Insurance Co. hired an engineering firm to assess the damage and to determine whether the house should be repaired or demolished.

The report, submitted to the state, estimated that it would cost $272,000 to repair the house and $343,000 to build a replica.

According to the report prepared for Monrovia by James A. Hill Associates, the major damage occurred when the house slid about 1 1/4 inches off the foundation and includes broken drain lines and cracks in interior and exterior walls.

Last week, the state--based on a recommendation by a three-member Los Angeles County advisory team of historians and preservationists--determined that the two-story stucco home could be saved.

“We must abide by the determination. It’s not a recommendation, it’s binding,” said Vance Pomeroy, a Monrovia assistant planner. “The city feels confident that we’ve been able to find the best avenue to address the safety concerns of the owner and save the house.”

On Tuesday, Hastings said he will appeal the decision. But state officials said that the law is clear in this situation and that there is no appeal process.

“There’s got to be a way to appeal it,” Hastings said. “I’m sure there must be an appeal process.”

The homeowner has hired an architect, Paul J. Mouton of Arcadia, and a contractor to assess the damage to the 68-year-old home and provide estimates comparing repair and reconstruction costs.

“This building should be condemned,” said Mouton, an Arcadia architect who was at the home Tuesday. “It should be torn down and built properly so it will look the same.”

Mouton estimated that it would cost as much as $500,000 to either rebuild or repair the home to satisfy the city’s safety standards.

“I agree that it should remain, because of its (historic significance), but structurally the house has outlived its usefulness,” Mouton said.

The architect said every wall and support beam is cracked and as a result the house would not survive another big earthquake, unless it is demolished and rebuilt.

“Everyone that the city and state hired are historians, who just want to save the building. That’s the bottom line,” Hastings said. “I stand the chance of losing everything. I could probably never sell it because I’ll have to disclose all this information and no one would buy it anyway.”

Hastings, whose family lives in Arcadia, said he bought the home five years ago for about $300,000 and intended to live in it forever. But now, he says, he will never move back unless the home is torn down and rebuilt because he fears for his family’s safety.

“The city and state has raped me of everything I have. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” he said.